Both of my kids have birthdays coming up, which means I've been busy looking for great gift ideas. When it comes to toys, I look for high quality, open-ended products that they will enjoy playing with on a daily basis. Thankfully, I know I can always count on HABA for just that!

Found nationwide in over 1,000 U.S. specialty retail stores, catalogs and websites, HABA products have been recognized with German and American awards including Parents' Choice, National Parenting Center, Creative Child, Dr. Toy and The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio. They are a name parents know and trust...one that provides both fun and education for children of all ages.

We are a huge fan of HABA toys, which is why I was excited to learn we were going to have the opportunity to review their Sorting Box Animals toy.

When the Sorting Box Animals package arrived, both my kids were begging to play with it. And, who could blame them?! Just from looking at the box, we could tell this was going to be something that both of them would enjoy.

As I took it out, I was impressed once again with the high quality naturally covered birch wood, fun colors, and overall appeal for young children. It's heavy duty and not something I have to worry about breaking when my kids bring it out to play on a daily basis (and believe me, they do. This is a favorite for both of them!).Aside from the quality and well thought out design, I could also tell a lot of time went into making sure that this is something kids would want to come back to time after time because of how easy it is to use. There are 6 shapes, four animal scenes (2 templates with a scene on each side) and a wooden box for the scenes to slide into.

What I love about this sorting box, is that it's so much more than I expected it would be. For Kaden, the shape sorting is perfect! He has been getting the hang of finding the right shapes and putting them in their correct spot. In fact, he gets very excited when this happens and claps and smiles from ear to ear! :)I also found that the size of the blocks are just perfect for little hands. They're large enough for him to easily hold and maneuver which is great!To be honest, at first I thought this was just your simple shape sorter, but I quickly learned it even has something for children Kaelyn's age. I love this, because that means it's a toy that will grow with my kids, keeping them entertained and challenged for years (starting at just age 1!).

What I learned about this box after we began playing with it, is that each template has two scenes, one on each side. They easily slide right into the box (while the other one slides in the back for easy storage). Each scene has different animals on it and the shape blocks have the different foods the animals eat on them. Not only can the kids (especially Kaelyn, as she's a bit older) use this to match their shapes, but they can also use it to learn more about what each of these animals eat. For instance, there's a cat on one, so Kaelyn grabbed the shape, looked at the picture on each side of the block and decided that a cat would eat the mouse. It was so neat seeing the sense of accomplishment on her face. I love that even a simple toy like this promotes so much learning even at her age.The one thing we did find, is that the templates slide out of the sorter pretty easily. When the kids put the shapes in the sorter, it often moves which frustrates them at times. After using it several times, they have learned to hold the template while they insert the shape and that seems to help.

Overall we've been really impressed with the HABA Sorting Box Animals toy from Maukilo. The quality is fantastic, and the educational value and fun it provides is great! The big wooden pieces simulate the curiosity of little ones, foster their senses and train motor skills. It's definitely a toy I would recommend for families with young children.